Written by Michael Palomba
ACA 5 has officially passed the California State Assembly and now moves to the State Senate. Should it pass the State Senate it will appear on the ballot for the November election, where voters will determine its fate.
If you haven’t heard of ACA 5, it’s a racist, regressive proposal that takes us back to the 20th century. It would amend the California Constitution to allow discrimination based on “race, sex, color, ethnicity, and/or national origin.”
The Constitution currently reads: “The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.”
ACA 5 would remove this clause.
As the days pass following the tragic and inexcusable death of George Floyd, I have seen more and more regressive proposals that aim to reverse the racism of the past, rather than end it. This is the wrong path to go down and will only lead to more division in the country.
The proposed ballot measure received 60 yes votes, with only 14 members voting against it.
It’s shocking that only 14 members had the courage to vote against this awful proposal. Every civil rights movement claims to fight for equality, so how does allowing discrimination, in 2020, get us any closer to that goal?
ACA 5 should’ve been dead on arrival, but the Democrat-dominated State Assembly passed it easily. Should this proposal make it to the ballot in November, I hope voters make the right choice and vote it down. This is the 21st century and we should not be changing our laws to allow for such explicit racial discrimination.
